What an affiliate link is
When we link to a product on a retailer like Amazon, Chewy, or a specialty hedgehog supplier, that link may include a tracking code that tells the retailer the visit came from us. If you buy the product within a window (usually 24 hours), the retailer pays us a small percentage of the sale. You pay the same price either way.
Affiliate links are marked with rel="sponsored nofollow" in the underlying HTML, per Google’s guidelines. We also visually mark product links in articles so you can tell which links earn us money before you click.
Our policy
- We don’t recommend a product because of the commission. We pick the right product first and add the affiliate link second. If the best wheel for hedgehogs doesn’t have an affiliate program, we link to it anyway.
- We recommend against products too. The pet-store starter cage is sold next to the hedgehogs and we will tell you not to buy it, every time, even though that costs us a click.
- We don’t take payment for reviews. Companies cannot pay us to review their product. We don’t accept free samples that come with an expectation of coverage.
- Sponsorships are labeled. If we ever publish a sponsored section (we don’t currently), it will be clearly marked “Sponsored by [name]” at the top of that section, with the relationship disclosed. Sponsorship will never influence our editorial coverage of the same product or company elsewhere on the site.
Where the money goes
Affiliate revenue covers the site’s direct costs — hosting, the email newsletter platform, the photography occasionally used. Anything left over goes toward commissioning new vet-reviewed content. We’re not running this site to get rich. We’re running it because the alternatives weren’t good enough.
What you can do
If our recommendations are useful, buying through our links is the simplest way to support the site at no cost to you. If you’d rather not, that’s fine — just bookmark the product and search for it directly. Our recommendation stands either way.
Specific affiliate programs we participate in
We’re a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
We may also use affiliate programs from Chewy, hedgehog-specialty suppliers, and other pet retailers. The specific programs are disclosed near any article that uses them.
Questions
Email hello@myhedgehogcare.com if you’d like more detail on any specific recommendation or relationship. We’ll answer plainly.